pirata

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Posts by pirata

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  20

  'necessary family business'...just what is it?

  by Aussie Oz in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  (prompted in part by the post on the latest wt reinforcing shunning).. say a child has occasional, not regular, contact with a d/f parent.

  the child later gets married, is inviting the parent seen as ''necessary family business''?.

  if a wedding is not, then what is?.

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  pirata

  It depends on your conscience.

  The BOE will let you know if your conscience is/was right or not.
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  138

  July 15th WT out - Coming out Swinging at Apostates Hard

  by LostGeneration in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  this is one of the most aggressive watchtowers i think i have ever read.. four study articles on not "following the crowd" not following unrealities(page 13) not following false teachers, meaning apostates of course(p 15).

  avoiding false teachers means "refusing to read their literature, watch tv programs that feature them, examine their web sites, or add comments to their blogs.

  (para 7, pg 16).

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  pirata

  JustHuman14, you call them imperfect, uninspired, spirit-led prophets with "eager expectations"
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  20

  Reason for new study editions and the topics within.

  by hotiwitabody234 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i might be rambling on.... i attended the meeting tonight.

  i'm not sure how it is in other halls.

  there are about 120 publishers in our hall, in the midwest.

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  pirata

  I think this stance on apostates will be effective for the strong jws until a certain point. Initially, they will feel that they shouldnt view any apostate literature because they will automatically be deemed an apostate once they do that. They will believe the second they view or go researching they will become this ex demon jw that will immediately never believe the watchtower again, so they will refrain from it. However, this will work for so long. Humans are naturally curious. Eventually, people will research things when prominent members such as elders, ministerial servants, etc leave the organization or are disfellowshipped, etc.

  Indeed.

  The Kingdom Ministry article saying not to do research outside watchtower publications, nor read/discuss the Bible in small groups with a view to verifying the official teachings, is what pushed me over the edge and got me starting to look to other sources to verify my faith and prove to me I had the truth.

  PS. Welcome to the forum!
• 
  172

  re-enforcing the shunning of immediate family - WT 7-15-11

  by undercover in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  july 15th wt study edition (regular dumb edition, not the dumber one).

  god's rest - have you entered into it?.

  subheading, when someone we love leaves jehovah.

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  pirata

  My opinion is that this very policy is what causes the overwhelming amount of "apostate" criticism on the web and other places. If they simply let people live with their dignity, family and friendships in tact, the outrage and anger that's found here and other places wouldn't exist.

  BINGO!

  The bible says to shun anyone who is a so-called brother (hypocrites), not those who are no longer brothers. The threat of disfellowshipping creates so-called brothers who do not leave the congregation because they want to preserve their dignity, family and friends. Ironic indeed.
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  8

  The "Verboten" Principle: Ignored By Watchtower Leaders

  by metatron in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i once read an observation as a teenager that i never forgot.

  i called it the "verboten" principle.. in nazi germany, as with other totalitarian systems, there is a tendency to vastly multiply signs that read "verboten!

  " (forbidden!).

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  pirata

  BCK, welcome to the forum!
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  20

  Survival of the Great Tribulation Depends on Observing Family Worship.

  by compound complex in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  greetings fellow jwners:.

  it was stated at sunday meeting that, according to the governing body, a jehovah's witness' survival of the gt hinges upon his participating in family worship night.

  have you read or heard this?

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  pirata

  David Splane at a District Convention not that long after the Book Study was done away with. He stated that the friends were appreciative of the GB's mercy for eliminating the Book Study as it was a hardship considering rising gas prices and difficulty traveling for JWs in different lands.

  I remember this point as well.
• 
  81

  New simplified Watchtower

  by alanv in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  beginning with the july 15th 2011 edition of the watchtower, the society are producing a simplified version of the study copy.. this is apparantly for the many people whose first language is not english, and yet they live in a predominantly englsih speaking county.. the normal study edition will still be produced but it looks like the cong.

  will be able to ask for a supply of the simplified version each month.. this simplified version can be downloaded from the watchtower site.. http://www.jw.org/index.html.

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  pirata

  Ironic since on the page after the movie picture it says (regular edition):

  "Following the crowd would not train our perceptive powers; nor, on the other hand, would a host of rigid rules in matters of conscience. That is why, for example, Jehovah's people are not given a list of films, books, and Internet sites to avoid. Because this would change so fast, such a list would be outdated soon after it was made."

  You really don't need a list because you can just infer from the pictures in the latest Watchtower issue what movies are being condemned (ie. Avatar, Twilight), right?

  Ironic too because there ARE rigid rules as to what is or isn't a concience matter is.
• 
  81

  New simplified Watchtower

  by alanv in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  beginning with the july 15th 2011 edition of the watchtower, the society are producing a simplified version of the study copy.. this is apparantly for the many people whose first language is not english, and yet they live in a predominantly englsih speaking county.. the normal study edition will still be produced but it looks like the cong.

  will be able to ask for a supply of the simplified version each month.. this simplified version can be downloaded from the watchtower site.. http://www.jw.org/index.html.

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  pirata

  Yes, let's all go see DUMA! (Rated PG, by the way)

  VIOLENCE/GORE 4 - A swarm of tsetse flies cover a man and a boy; the man is stung all over, he becomes very ill, his face and hands become very swollen and his breathing is labored.
  ? A baboon barks a warning sound, animals become agitated, a lion chases a cheetah, and the cheetah is tackled by another lion and killed (we hear the thud, a roar and a cloud of dust coming up from tall grass).
  ? Two cheetahs stalk and chase an animal, we see them trip it and eat it (there isn't a lot of detail). A dead animal lies on the ground with a bloody opening in its abdomen, a cheetah snarls and tears at the flesh (we see the tissue being pulled), and the cheetah snarls and hisses at a boy that approaches it.
  ? A man goes into a dark cave, we hear him scream and hear loud rumbling; we then see him buried under dirt that has collapsed and covered him, and a boy begins to dig him out, but then leaves him.
  ? A boy is chased by a wild boar: the boy falls on the ground, he rolls over to see the boar's tusks and he faints (he wakes up later, uninjured).
  ? A boy leaves a sick man to go for help, he is followed by lions, but a cheetah gets their attention and they follow it. Lions approach a man and a boy.
  ? A boy and a cheetah ride on a raft through crocodile infested waters, they approach rapids, they are thrown off the raft, and crocodiles circle underneath the boy, who thrusts a spear into the water (he does not hit anything) but they get out of the water just as a crocodile approaches them.
  ? A boy hides in a tree from an animal that's snarling and snorting below him, and a large spider crawls down the boy's face but he tries to remain quiet. People scream and run when a snake slithers along the floor near them.
  ? A boy is surrounded by bullies who shove him, then push him to the floor of a bathroom and try to steal his money; a cheetah comes out of a stall and snarls at them, the bullies run away. We hear screaming and people running when a cheetah comes into a school.
  ? A herd of buffalo stampedes toward a boy and cheetah, the boy hides in tall grass and is unharmed but the cheetah runs in the opposite direction. A boy walks alone through thick woods, we see lions prowling, hyenas circling and elephants marching nearby. A cheetah runs across a street, cars swerve and honk, and a boy chases it.
  ? A cheetah chases an ostrich until it finds its nest of three eggs (the cheetah looks at and sniffs them). A cheetah chases a gazelle but does not pounce on it. A cheetah is trapped in a cage. A cheetah cub walks across a road and is nearly hit by a car.
  ? An unconscious man is treated by a tribal doctor who chants over him and places leaves and plaster on his face. A man finds a dagger and says, "This will kill anything." A man appears threatening when he approaches the camp of a boy and cheetah and the man has a wound on his arm (we see a blood tinged cloth). A man and a boy find ruins strewn with many human skeletons and skulls.
  ? A man tells a boy that they will have to eat one of their animals to survive. A boy and a cheetah are stranded in an isolated area when their motorcycle runs out of gas, and they wander until they find a crashed airplane, which they use as shelter.
  ? A cheetah cub is left orphaned after its mother is killed by lions. A boy wakes up to the flashing lights of an ambulance that has come to retrieve his father, who died. A man collapses in a field, we hear that he is recovering in a hospital and we see him later with a surgical scar on his head.
  ? A man tells a story about how the cheetah got the black lines on its face and tells of a mother cheetah losing its cub and crying so much that her face became stained.
  ? A boy pretends to break his own neck (we hear a crack and he falls limp) and a man who's with him becomes concerned. A boy plays with and sleeps with a full-grown cheetah in several scenes. A cheetah panics and jumps when it chews on a TV remote turning on the TV and changing the channels. A boy holds a snake up to a cheetah cub's nose (they just look at each other).
  ? A bush baby always looks frightened (it has very large eyes and it chirps) and jumps around. We see a boy missing his leg from the knee down.
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  9

  Listening to your "inner voice" lecture in college

  by Coffee House Girl in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  so i'm taking a business law course & this week the professor is off on a tagent about listening to your inner voice & the formula for life,.

  1. be honest & ethical and work hard..then.

  2. watch the opportunties come your way.

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  pirata

  Thank you CHG. I am going to copy your points for future reference. I am still finding and discovering what principles to live my life by.

  I just wanted to add:

  Listen to your inner voice... but don't let your inner voice fool you.

  Once we have made up our minds about something, we tend to stick with that decision regardless of any new information that comes to light. That's how I stayed a believing JW for so long.

  Always be willing to consider new facts regardless of how much emotional or material investment we have already made in our previous decisions. It's alright to make mistakes.
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  20

  Is "Lying for the Truth" a real expression among JW's or just something apostates or worldlies made up?

  by InterestedOne in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  although i've read some of the "theocratic war strategy" articles, etc., i have heard some on here use the expression "lying for the truth.

  " is that an expression jw's say among themselves?

  also, does it appear in an article anywhere?.

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  pirata

  While it is mentioned in the publications, it is rarely mentioned or used, at least in places where the work is not under ban.